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The family of an Ohio State freshman who lost a leg after being run over by a dump truck in September has filed negligence lawsuits against the university and several contractors.

James Daniel Hughes, a chemical-engineering major from South Point, along the Ohio River, was riding his bike to class on Sept. 5 when he was hit by a dump truck near the entrance to a construction site along Woodruff Avenue.

Hughes, 18, lost his right leg and suffered severe damage to his pelvis and spine. Serious infections also threatened his life, said his attorneys, Steve Crandall and Marc Pera, of Chagrin Falls in Cuyahoga County.

His parents and three siblings are suing Ohio State; the driver of the dump truck, 71-year-old Isaac Hinton of the East Side; and 10 contractors hired by OSU, saying they failed to take the necessary precautions to keep students safe in what they knew was a densely packed area, according to the lawsuits.

Crews started working on the $126 million Chemical Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry building in June. Students often must pass the site to go to class or their dorms, the court documents say.

The crash was foreseeable, the documents say, and Ohio State did nothing to prevent it.

The lawsuit against Ohio State was filed in the Ohio Court of Claims. The one against Hinton and the others was filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. The family is seeking at least $25,000, plus court costs and punitive damages, in each lawsuit.

Hinton wasn’t at fault for the accident and “ didn’t have an opportunity to avoid the collision,” said his Columbus lawyer, John Hilt. “He’s devastated by the fact that this young man is hurt,” Hilt said.

OSU officials and several of the contractors declined to talk about the lawsuit. But Ohio State officials released a statement saying student safety remains the school’s highest priority.

“Daniel Hughes and his family continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. We wish Daniel all the best in his recovery,” spokeswoman Gayle Saunders said in a written statement.

Saunders said the university created a traffic-safety task force in the fall after a series of serious crashes on and around campus involving pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. The group made eight recommendations, “many of which are in the process of being implemented,” including more warning signs and an educational campaign, she said.

OSU police also released a several-hundred-page report of their four-month-long investigation last week. The report concluded that no criminal charges would be filed because Hughes appeared to have been riding his bike on the sidewalk and did not see the turning dump truck until it was too late, based on witness statements and other evidence. Police think the driver didn’t see Hughes because Hughes was in his blind spot.

But Hughes told police that he had been walking his bike on the sidewalk when he saw the dump truck traveling next to him. Without warning, he said, the truck made a sharp right turn into the construction area. Hughes said he yelled at the driver to stop, but the truck ran him over.

The lawsuits say Ohio State and the construction contractors failed to provide flaggers, security officers or to take other precautions to protect pedestrians and bicyclists.

Since the crash, contractors have taken several measures to improve safety on the site, including installing more orange construction barrels, cones and fencing, as well as illuminated caution signs and convex mirrors so construction crews have fewer blind spots, according to police documents.